Scraper blade supporting means



Aug. 26, 1969 P. VASAS SCRAPER BLADE SUPPORTING MEANS Filed Jan. 9, 1967 INVENTOR. Fe??? @0505 BY Q ATTORNEYS.

United States Patent 3,463,523 SCRAPER BLADE SUPPORTING MEANS Peter Vasas, 12 Holmes St., Poughkeepsie, N.Y. 12601 Filed Jan. 9, 1967, Ser. No. 607,950 Int. Cl. F16b 1/00, 3/00, 5/00, 7/00 US. Cl. 287189.36 1 Claim ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE This invention is directed to a scraper blade assembly that includes a blade base having a scraper blade removably attached thereto by a number of transversely spaced bolts. A mounting plate is afiixed to the rear face of the blade base between each successive pair of bolts and carries a scraper blade supporting stud having a forwardly projecting cylindrical portion of a diameter substantially greater than that of the bolts and extends through the combined thicknesses of the blade base and scraper blade.

This invention relates generally to new and useful improvements in those types of earth moving, grading or scraping equipment having blades removably attached to a blade base and particularly seeks to provide novel supporting studs therefor that replace a substantial portion of the attaching bolts to increase shearing resistance and to enable the blades to be quickly changed when a replacement is required.

In equipment of these types it is common to have a strongly constructed blade base to the front of which is attached one or more blades by a multiplicity of plow bolts. Under heavy duty operating conditions the blades become worn, dulled or badly nicked and must either be inverted to present a fresh scraping edge or replaced by new blades, which is time consuming. Such operating conditions also impose heavy impact shear loads on the attaching bolts which frequently break off as the result, often causing the entire blade to become detached and gathered into the earth being removed and subsequently lost.

However, through use of the supporting means of this invention a blade may be more quickly changed and the resistance to impact or other shear loads is substantially increased. Furthermore, through the use of this invention the applied torque for tightening the plow bolts may be reduced from about 500 foot-pounds to about 300 foot-pounds with a resultant decrease in tension on the bolts.

Therefore, an object of this invention is to provide a novel supporting stud for the blades of earth moving equipment.

Another object of this invention is to provide a stud of the character stated that includes a stem portion fitted through a hole in a mounting and reinforcing plate rigidly affixed to the back of the blade base, and a relatively large diameter forwardly projecting stud portion that extends through aligned holes in the blade base and in the attached blade.

Another object of this invention is to provide a stud of the character stated that is removably aflixed to the mounting and reinforcing plate by a locking pin.

Another object of this invention is to provide studs of the character stated that can be used to replace a substantial number of the blade attaching bolts to enable the quicker changing of the blade.

Another object of this invention is to provide studs of the character stated in which the forwardly projecting portions thereof have diameters substantially greater than 3,463,523 Patented Aug. 26, 1969 the diameter of the attaching bolts whereby to effect a substantial increase in resistance to impact and other shear loads.

A further object of this invention is to provide a device of the character stated that is simple in design, rugged in construction and economical to manufacture.

With these and other objects, the nature of which will be apparent, the invention will be more fully understood by reference to the drawings, the accompanying detailed description and the appended claim.

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a front elevation of a scraper blade as it appears when attached to a blade base;

FIG. 2 is a transverse vertical section taken along line 2-2 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary horizontal section taken along line 33 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is an exploded perspective of a modified form of supporting stud that is adapted to be removably affixed to its mounting and reinforcing plate by a locking pin; and

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary rear elevation of the blade base with the stud assembly of FIG. 4 welded thereto.

Referring to the drawings in detail, the invention as illustrated is embodied in a scraper blade assembly including a generally rectangular blade base 5 and a rectangular scraper blade 6 provided with upper and lower cutting edges 7, 7 and attached to the base by a plurality of plow bolts 8 extending therethrough. Normally, the plow bolts are the sole means of attaching the blade to the base, and because of the number of them required to make the attachment secure, replacement of the blade is quite a time consuming operation.

To this end, each of the desired number of bolt holes in the blade base 5 and the blade 6 is enlarged to receive the forwardly projecting cylindrical portion 9 of a high strength metal supporting stud having a rearwardly projecting cylindrical stem 10 engaged within a complementary hole formed in a mounting or reinforcing plate 11 Welded or otherwise rigidly affixed to the rear face of the blade base 5. The length of the cylindrical portion 9 should be equal to the combined thickness of the base 5 and blade '6, and its diameter should be such that its shear strength is substantially higher than that of the bolts 8 along the interface between the base and the blade.

For, example, if .a blade of given width were attached to its base by a row of 24 standard plow bolts (78 or 1" diameter) on 4" centers, it would be expected that the shear load resistance would vary from a maximum of about tons in the central area of the assembly to a minimum of about 20 to 25 tons adjacent either end thereof. High impact on a blade end, with resultant shearing of an end bolt, could permit a scissor action between the blade and its base that would be progressively transmitted from bolt to bolt as each fails from overloading in shear. However, if alternate bolts except for the end bolts, were replaced by properly sized (2" to 3" in diameter) supporting studs in accordance with this invention the central shear load resistance would be increased to from about to about 200 tons and the shear load resistance at the ends would be increased substantially above the 20 to 25 ton figure mentioned above.

The reason that it is preferable to retain bolts at the extreme end positions is that by so doing entry of dirt between the base and the ends of the blade is prevented which otherwise might tend to spring the blade away from the base.

In installations where the blade is always maintained at a substantial angle off the vertical, a friction fit plus the force of gravity will generally be suflicient to retain the supporting studs in position. However, if a positive retention of the studs is desired a pinned assembly may be provided as illustrated in FIGS. 4 and 5 of the drawings.

In that embodiment of the invention a mounting and reinforcing plate 12, similar to the plate 11 of FIGS l-3, is provided with a hole 13 for receiving the stem of a supporting stud, and a transverse bore 14 that intersects the upper portion of the hole 13 and which is adapted to receive either a solid or split-sleeve locking pin 15 having a length at least equal to the width of the plate 12. A supporting stud is provided with a stem 16 receivable into hole 13 and has a transverse groove 17 with an arcuate cross-section corresponding to that of the pin 15. The stud also includes a forwardly projecting cylindrical portion 18 identical with the cylindrical portion 9 of the stud shown in FIGS. 1-3. To assemble, it is only necessary to Weld or otherwise rigidly atfix the plate 12 to the back of the blade base 5, insert the supporting stud from the front of the blade so that the stem 16 fits within the hole 13 with the groove 17 aligned with the bore 14, and then insert the pin 15 through the bore into engagement with the groove 17 to positively lock the stud in place.

It will be understood that in either embodiment of the invention the mounting and reinforcing plate 11 or 12, at each location thereof, may either extend for substantially the full height of the blade base 5 to reinforce the entire blade base, or may be just sutficiently long :to adequately support the blade mounting studs and reinforce the blade base in those areas where the studs are mounted.

It is, of course, to be understood that variations in arrangements and proportions of parts may be made.

I claim:

1. In a scraper blade assembly wherein is provided a blade base and a scraper blade removably attached thereto by a plurality of transversely spaced bolts; a mounting plate affixed to the rear face of said blade base between each of a plurality of pairs of said transversely spaced bolts, and a scraper blade supporting stud carried by each of said mounting plates, each of said studs having a forwardly projecting cylindrical portion of a diameter substantially greater than that of said bolts and extending through the combined thicknesses of said base and said blade and having a rearwardly projecting cylindrical stem of a diameter less than that of said forwardly projecting portion, said stem being fitted into said mounting plate, the rearwardly projecting stem of each of said studs being provided with a transverse locking groove, each of said mounting plates being provided with a transverse bore intersecting the locking groove of its associated stud, and a locking pin fitted through each said bore into locking engagement with its said locking groove.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 271,791 2/1883 Children 3061.6 608,448 8/ 1898 Gauthier 28752.08 X 1,412,500 4/1922 Zavatkay 3730 1,514,782 11/1924 Nobles et a1. 306--1.6 2,908,340 10/1959 Love et al. 287189.36 X 3,269,039 8/1966 Bodine 37-141 CARL W. TOMLIN, Primary Examiner WAYNE L. SHEDD, Assistant Examiner US. 01. X.R. 

